Crystal Clear

"So, she’ll probably die from that?" my father asked.

"Yes, most likely," Dr. Yeoh answered matter-of-factly, his hand cupping the mass of hardened tissue dangling from her armpit.

I found out from the vet yesterday that my older dog’s tumors are malignant. The chances of her contracting mammary cancer were heightened as we didn’t have her spayed. Another vet had previously said that it was nothing more than a harmless cyst. I had suspected otherwise when I felt it had swelled to the size of a golf ball in a matter of months, with another lump starting to form on her stomach. An operation for removal could cause the cancer cells to spread to other organs, and that is if she is strong enough to survive the operation.

We had taken Crystal checked out because she’s been suffering from severe urinary problems. She’s been put on antibiotics but even if she overcomes this obstacle, that backyard in the sky is still around the celestial corner.

She’s had her faults, and boy, has she committed countless sins in her heyday, but I’ve always found a part of me that could forgive her. She almost slipped past my fingers twice with jaundice occurring in 2000 and again three years later. Now, at the extremely ripe old age of 14 (multiply that with seven for human years and that’s a bit short of astonishing), I'll have to inevitably agree it’s just about that time where she takes a permanent breather.

To a loyal guardian and a dear friend who has watched me grow, who has seen me in all my hours of grimness and glory, who has made me weep, laugh and learn to love... Let’s keep it great til the end.